Jaenisch will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science. According to the award citation, he is being honored “for discovering heritable controls of gene expression that are independent of the DNA sequence information. These mechanisms affect normal development and diseases, such as cancer, and suggest promising new therapies.”

Suresh, who is currently serving as director of the National Science Foundation, will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science “for outstanding contributions to our understanding of the mechanical behavior of materials in applications ranging from large structures down to the atomic level. This research also showed how deformation of biological cells can be linked to human disease.”

Jaenisch and Suresh are among eight laureates selected this year. They will receive their awards on April 25, 2013, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.